The two went back all the way, through the secret passage and back into the garden maze… the only problem was there wasn’t much of a maze left…

“WHERE ARE YOU RICHARD???” Arthur screamed as he hovered in the air searching for Richard.

“Hide here.” Richard pointed at a pile of leaves and twigs left from the garden maze.

Weed was surprisingly cooperative.

“ARTHUR!” Richard screamed out. “YOU WANTED ME! HERE I AM!!”

Weed smacked his forehead. “So much for a surprise attack.”

Arthur shot like a comet towards Richard. Richard just barely managed to dodge Arthur.

“That was quite a stunt you pulled there.” Arthur replied as he stood on the pile of leaves in which Weed hid.

‘ARGHH! My back!!’ Weed wailed but didn’t utter a whisper or move an inch. He was as frozen as a statue.

“I wonder where did you disappear of to Richard?” Arthur asked.

“I was protecting the elf from you.” Richard replied as he took steps backwards drawing Arthur away from Weed.

“Really, now how did you grow so fond of the elf?” Arthur asked with a malicious smile masking his face.

“…”

“Come now…I remember everything, do you want the elf Richard? Do you desire the elf?” Arthur spoke in an eerie and crazy tone.

“No!” Richard shot back. “For Gods sake it a male elf!”

“Oh! Did I touch a nerve? You seem to have forgotten Richard…you slept with all sorts of creatures and humans of all ages and gender.” Arthur replied as he mentally tortured Richard.

“Your lies disgust me…” Richard replied refusing to give in.

“I LIE??? I LIE??? DON’T YOU DARE SAY I LIE!!!” Arthur said as he whipped out his sword. “YOU WERE THE ONE WHO DROVE ME TO THIS!!! YOU AND YOUR GREED!! THE CITY WAS SUFFERING AND YOU BEHAVED LIKE A SLOTH!! NO WORSE THAN A SLOTH!! ALL YOU DID WAS SLEEP WITH YOUNG WOMEN EVERYDAY!! FOR SIX YEARS YOU HAVEN’T EVEN LOOKED AT YOUR CITY EVEN ONCE!! AND I AM THE ONE WHO LIES?? YOU LIED TO YOUR PEOPLE WHEN YOUR TURNED YOUR BACK ON THEM!!”

“I was poisoned.” Richard replied albeit it sounded more like an excuse. “Just as you are…”

“DON’T HIDE RICHARD!! YOU MUST FACE JUDGEMENT!”

The two clashed once again.

‘Not again!!’ Weed groaned. He was sick of them fighting and fighting. Weed stood up, he wanted to help Richard but he wasn’t sure how. If he entered in too deep he would become more of a hindrance. He didn’t want to run away either as he did with Theodore. Weed looked around. The floating chinese candle lanterns!

Weed took out the Harbringer and made a cut through his gown. It was too tight and made it hard for him to move around. He then quickly began digging at the base of the poles which were holding the lanterns up.

Weed then pushes the pole and it entangles all the wires holding the lanterns up and brings it crashing down. The two warriors jumped back as they narrowly avoid a pole from falling on them.

“WEED??” Richard shot back angrily.

“SORRY JUST TRYING TO HELP!” Weed shouted back.

“I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!” Richard said as he fended off a sly attack from Arthur.

The rug beneath them caught fire. And both men were sweating it out. They could run at each other and attack and remain unscathed from the fire but the smoke was inescapable.

“SO WHEN DOES IT COME TO AN END?” Richard asked.

“When your head comes off …” Arthur replied as he charged towards Richard.

Richard and Arthur activated their wind elements and in a single second all smoke created from the fire dissipated. The gust was so strong that even the fire extinguishes. Weed feels infuriated his efforts to provide cover for Richard were in vain. Weed always knew he was weak but having it in his face was not a good experience. It made him realize truly how weak not having an element is.

Weed was mad at himself for not being able to do anything more as the two behemoths collided. He rushed to the next pole angrily and started digging at it. He repeated the exercise and the pole fell again in between.

Richard and Arthur chose to ignore Weed. To them Weed was no more than an insect which was buzzing around in their fight. They were so focused on each other that neither could see Weed. Since they were using wind element, the fight was very high level. They both let go of the swords they were using. Those were completely battered even after being reinforced with their wind element.

They were racing past each other exchanging fist blows and turning around and going back at each other. It might appear like a simple run and fist fight but Weed could see the air around the contours of their body was twisting weird. The air was moving around them so violently that their edges were blurred out from the dust. The warriors had reinforced the edges of their body with air element.

Weed had only heard about such battles in communities. That players averaging a class B and above could fight purely using elements reinforced amongst their bodies. Weed watched them in envy as they fought.

Every gridlock the warriors found themselves in the air beneath them blew hard, pushing away all earth below and creating mini craters. Both warriors were literally using all their elemental might to push the other away. The winds around them at this point was probably hurricane class speeds. It would easily tear away human flesh. Reinforcing was a double edge sword, if you got it wrong, it would damage the user. Even the slightest break in concentration could be a critical hit.

Stolen story; please report.

Weed didn’t stay in awe too long, he continued dropping near by poles and creating fires. He was hoping to distract the enemy and create an opening for Richard. Then it happened. The pole fell from behind Richard and got caught up in his wind defense. It went swinging at full speed at Arthur whose wind defense could not cancel the speed of Richard’s gale force winds. Hence, the pole flew right through and injured Arthur. The pole which was no wider than a human palm in diameter dangled between Arthur and his body. It wasn’t a fatal blow since Arthur’s HP was very high but it was critical. It hampered Arthur’s movement forcing him to use extra power to cut the pole. Weed’s act moved the favour slightly in Richard’s favour.

Richard stopped while Arthur removed the remaining pole.

“PLEASE LET US STOP THIS NOW!” Richard begged.

“Never!” Arthur shot back as blood dripped forth from his eyes.

Weed was convinced this was taken from some ancient horror movie; he wasn’t in the least bit terrified.

Arthur raised his hand and aimed at Richard. He then shot forth highly condensed pellets of air. Each sphere of air was moving circular at high speeds, more dangerous than a bullet as they expanded as the distance increased but the speed and stability remained the same.

Weed jumped aside to dodge an incoming shot. When Weed looks back, it ripped through the ground. The cemented and marble floor was literally torn up into bits of confetti.

Arthur increased his speed. He fired multiple shots and not necessarily originating from his hand. They would appear from anywhere and head towards their targets.

“Impressive…” Richard muttered. “Did your powers return?” He asked as he jumped around dodging the attacks.

Arthur laughed. “The seal? I broke it…I am not the person you knew for the last two hundred years and I am certainly not the person who you knew from before then either. I am not weak like you, I am much more powerful than you remember me! I am no weakling to follow you…”

Richard frowned and continued dodging the attacks.

Weed frowned, even though Richard was dodging he was still taking hits. The problem with wind elemental attacks are that they can’t be seen. Even if you know what’s coming at you from which direction it is hard for anyone to gauge the size or shape of the attack. Had it been anyone other than Richard, they would probably have had their innards churned inside out but Richard who had sparred many times before with Arthur knew Arthur’s attacks well.

He knew full well what Arthur was capable for before his powers were sealed and after his powers were sealed. The two had lived together for nearly twenty decades, this much was a given.

“WE NEED TO PULL BACK!” Weed shouted hoping to get through to Richard.

However Richard was too focused on Arthur. His gaze never once left Arthur.

‘F*ck!’ Weed thought. ‘He doesn’t intend to defeat him he still wants to save him! In that case…’

“TELL ME WHERE IS THE DRAGON BLADES ARE I’ll GET IT!!!” Weed shouted out to Richard. ‘As long as he keeps him busy, we have the advantage of numbers…’

Weed wished he never uttered those words cause right after he said that much a dark voice roared through the sky.

“ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! HE KNOWS WHERE THE DRAGON BLADES ARE! GET THEM!!”

Arthur stopped with the attacks and looked at Richard pleadingly.

Richard looked around but could not see anyone. He wondered where the voice came from. The entire mansion was deserted and in a dilapidated state. There was no one but the three of them there.

Weed was frozen in his place. He knew that voice. He knew that voice all too well. It was ingrained in him to his very core. He wasn’t afraid or scared, he just went numb and his mind went blank. It was ‘Shadow…’

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Authors Note:

1. There have been some minor changes lets see how things unravel.

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